This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. A fundamental problem with doing time resolved fiber diffraction and SAXS at third generation synchrotron sources is that area detectors with the needed characteristics of sensitivity, dynamic range, and spatial resolution that can also deliver data on a millisecond time scale do not currently exist. The goal of this project, therefore, is to develop a low cost X-ray detector with a better combination of resolution, efficiency, dynamic range, active area and millisecond-scale readout time than is currently available. This project is a collaboration between Dr. Vivek Nagarkar of RMD Inc. Watertown MA and BioCAT. The proposed detector is a new electron multiplying charge coupled device (EMCCD) optically coupled to new high resolution, high efficiency converters using a fiberoptic taper. This new EMCCD combines the high resolution and low noise of a CCD and an internal gain and very high sensitivity of an avalanche photodiode (APD). Unlike conventional CCDs, the internal gain of an EMCCD allows high speed data acquisition and readout without introducing read noise, thus allowing very high frame rates of up to 500 frames per second depending on inning schemes used. A unique feature of the EMCCD for this application is its programmable internal gain which allows real time control of the detector sensitivity and its dynamic range. Work in this grant year has concentrated on evaluating new scintillators as they come along in combination with our test RMCCD detector in order to identify combinations that could develop into useful detectors.